We encourage applicants to consider how their work aligns with our core values, which are guided by these definitions of key concepts.

Core Values

• Community co-creation.  We value the role students, parents, and schools can play in co-creating musical opportunities and collectively developing the artistic product. 

• Fostering cultural exchange.  Singing can build community and be a bridge for empathy. We value building mutually beneficial, long-term relationships between communities to share cultural and musical traditions through singing. 

• Working to repair the damages caused by historical and systemic racism.  We recognize that the inequities in music education are perpetuated by a history of systemic racism and economic disparities. We encourage applicants to consider how their work reflects a commitment to equity. 

Guiding Definitions 

• Access.  Providing equal and equitable opportunities for students to take full advantage of participating in singing together.  

• BIPOC.  People who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. 

• Choral Music.  Music created by singing with others. We are intentionally defining choral music to be as inclusive and broad as possible and welcome projects that teach musical traditions with origins across the globe. The size, organizational structure, learning method (rote, reading), or repertoire performed can vary substantially within this definition, as well as cultural origin.  

• Community.  For this grant program, when we reference community, we are focusing on the individuals who comprise a comprehensive music education ecosystem – the students, teachers, teaching artists, caregivers and family, nonprofit partners, and school staff – who are connected to a student’s music education.   

• Cross-Cultural Learning.  Increasing one’s understanding of their own and other cultures.  

• Cultural Exchange.  Sharing the exchange of ideas, gifts, music, etc. between artists, students, and teachers of different cultures to promote mutual understanding. A practice rooted in deep respect that takes effort to address power dynamics present between different cultures. Note: often occurs domestically and is not limited to international cultural exchange. 

• Diversity.  Recognizing the value in all of our human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, gender, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, and ability. 

• Equity.  Identifying and addressing the needs of different people to support equal outcomes. 

• Historically Marginalized Communities.  Socially excluded groups of people because of unequal power relationships across various dimensions, such as race, age, gender, physical or mental abilities, economic status, access to education, or living in isolated or economically distressed communities. 

• Inclusion.  The active, intentional, and ongoing engagement of an organization, school, or classroom and its culture to create equal access, outcomes, well-being, and a sense of belonging for everyone.  

• People of the Global Majority.  We use People of the Global Majority interchangeably with BIPOC, since Black, Indigenous, and People of Color represent over 80% of the world’s population. This wording centers identity less in relation to Whiteness.

• School/School Districts.  For the purposes of this grant opportunity, an eligible partnership school or school district is an institution where students spend the majority of their week learning academic and socio-emotional skills based on a set of standards or developed curriculum. This may include public, private, charter schools, and school districts that serve early childhood – 12th grade.